This is Bob Doughty with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
The chicken industry in East Asia has grown quickly in recentyears. But now the industry must deal with findings that the avianinfluenza virus is more widespread than was thought.
In the last two weeks, China, Thailand and Vietnam all reportednew cases of bird flu. China and Thailand are two of the largestpoultry producers in the world.
Scientists were not immediately sure if this was a new virus or acontinuation of the major outbreaks earlier this year. But a topofficial of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organizationsaid the new cases are not a surprise.
Joseph Domenech says governments need to recognize that the viruswill continue to spread and different ones could also appear. Hesays doing away with the avian flu virus “should be considered, atbest, as a long-term task.”
By the end of last week workers had killed tens of thousands ofchickens and ducks to stop the spread of the virus. But a WorldHealth Organization official, Doctor Shigeru Omi, said there wasstill a great risk to public health.
Earlier this year, the avian flu virus killed at leasttwenty-three people in Southeast Asia. The W.H.O. says thirty-fourpeople in all became infected. At that time, workers killed aboutone-hundred million chickens and other birds in an effort to stopthe infection. Scientists fear that the virus could become able tospread from person to person.
Medical experts in China recently found that the h-five-n-onevirus is becoming more dangerous to mammals. They studied virusescollected over four years. They observed the effects on chickens,mice and ducks.
The researchers found that the more recent forms of the viruswere more deadly to mice than earlier versions. They say immediateaction is needed to prevent the spread of avian flu viruses fromducks into chickens or mammals. The virus infects ducks but does notmake them sick. The study appears this week in the Proceedings ofthe National Academy of Sciences.
And a study last week in the magazine Nature says wild birds mayhave added to the increasing spread of the virus in Asia. Theresearchers say their results suggest that h-five-n-one has becomefirmly rooted in the area. They say these developments may be athreat to people and animals worldwide.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by CatyWeaver and Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.